Robert Portis, Author at The Fight City - Page 2 of 8The Fight City

Robert Portis

Browsing All Posts By Robert Portis

The Top Twelve 8
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Southpaws

According to the latest research, roughly ten percent of the human population is left-handed. This presents few problems for the other ninety percent, but in boxing, those problems ...
On October 23, 2018 / By Robert Portis
The Fight City 0
KO’s For Francis And Shak

Another week, another boxing card at the Montreal Casino, this time from Groupe Yvon Michel. The week before saw Eye Of The Tiger put on a major show there ...
On October 22, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Features 1
Hawk Time Forever

Were he still with us, Aaron Pryor would be 63-years-old today. Gone too soon, and taken in the same year that saw the passing of Muhammad Ali, the ...
On October 20, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Oct. 14, 1949: Gavilan vs Jack

It was the classic clash of the old king vs the future king when the once-great Beau Jack met Kid Gavilan in Chicago Stadium in a ten round, non-title ...
On October 14, 2018 / By Robert Portis
The Top Twelve 6
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Body Punchers

Body punchers don’t get enough love. Except for those dramatic instances where a paralyzing left hook to the liver produces a knockout, much of the time an effective ...
On October 8, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Oct. 5, 1936: Canzoneri vs McLarnin II

Tony Canzoneri vs Jimmy McLarnin. Two of the very best from one of boxing’s great eras, the 1930’s, the Depression years, the glorious decade of Kid Chocolate, Barney ...
On October 5, 2018 / By Robert Portis
The Top Twelve 0
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Upsets

How does one measure an upset? Simple: by the number of chins on the floor at the end of the fight. And the power of the shockwaves felt ...
On October 3, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Features 4
Canelo vs GGG II: The Last Word

It took our own Mr. Portis a few days to collect his thoughts on last Saturday’s huge fight, and while at first he handed in roughly ten thousand ...
On September 21, 2018 / By Robert Portis
The Top Twelve 0
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Catchers

On this day back in 1950, the man they called “The Bronx Bull” scored a sensational, come-from-behind, final round knockout to retain the world’s middleweight title. France’s Laurent ...
On September 13, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Sept. 12, 1951: Robinson vs Turpin

The first Robinson vs Turpin battle took place in London, England just two months before the second, and it will forever stand as one of the greatest upsets ...
On September 12, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Sept. 9, 1997: Zaragoza vs Morales

It was the classic confrontation: age and experience vs youth and raw talent. Southpaw Daniel Zaragoza was the grizzled veteran, a survivor of 65 professional battles and some 21 ...
On September 7, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Sept. 3, 1936: Ambers vs Canzoneri

Tony Canzoneri was already a lock for the Hall of Fame, not to mention an all-time great lightweight when he entered Madison Square Garden in May of 1935 ...
On September 3, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Aug. 9, 1980: Palma vs Randolph

In 1976, a group of young athletes journeyed to Montreal to fight for their country. There were no great expectations for the men who populated the American Olympic ...
On August 9, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
Aug. 4, 1947: Williams vs Montgomery

Ike Williams and Bob Montgomery made no secret of the fact that they disliked one another and their animosity made for a pair of brutal clashes in Philadelphia, ...
On August 4, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
July 31, 1908: Ketchel vs Kelly

Alas, for so many of boxing’s truly great champions, precious little or no film exists of their exploits, but despite this, we possess solid evidence of their splendid ...
On July 31, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
July 25, 1902: Jeffries vs Fitzsimmons II

It is difficult to say how heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries would have matched up against more contemporary boxers, but there’s no doubt he was an extraordinary fighter. ...
On July 25, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
July 16, 1947: Zale vs Graziano II

In 1945 Rocky Graziano stood at the precipice of ruin. Just 26-years-old, with a record of 35-6-5, he had lost two matches in a row, two high profile defeats ...
On July 16, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
July 9, 1989: Rosario vs Jones

When we compare and rank boxers of the past, something all serious fight fans love to do, one of the key criteria is longevity. This has less to ...
On July 9, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
July 7, 1985: Chavez vs Mayweather I

It’s 1985 and everyone south of the border already knows who the next great Mexican boxer will be. The only problem is pretty much no one north of ...
On July 7, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
July 6, 1979: Gonzalez vs Oguma IV

The career of Betulio Gonzalez, which should be enshrined in the Hall of Fame but for reasons unknown is not, featured numerous clashes with various champions, but was ...
On July 6, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
June 29, 1942: Charles vs Burley II

No one knowledgeable about the long history of prizefighting doubts the standing of Charley Burley. The man was so good even Sugar Ray Robinson avoided him. And no ...
On June 28, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 1
June 22, 1938: Louis-Schmeling II

Former world champion Max Schmeling was a solid 10-to-1 underdog when he faced rising contender and awesome knockout artist Joe Louis in a major heavyweight showdown in June ...
On June 22, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 3
June 18, 1941: Louis vs Conn I

It is 1941 and while some say death and taxes are the only sure things in life, American sports fans know different. There exists a third certainty: Joe Louis ...
On June 17, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
June 12, ’89: Hearns vs Leonard II

Their first meeting in 1981, one of the biggest fights in boxing history, was called “The Showdown,” an appellation which made sense given that each held one of ...
On June 12, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 2
Fight City Legends: The Smoke City Wildcat

They called them the Roaring Twenties, that crazy decade following World War I when the economy boomed, “speakeasies” opened on every other corner, the “flappers” started showing a ...
On June 6, 2018 / By Robert Portis
The Top Twelve 32
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Heavyweights

At a very leisurely pace over the last couple of years, The Fight City has offered its own idiosyncratic rankings of the all-time greatest boxers in each of ...
On June 2, 2018 / By Robert Portis
The Top Twelve 6
Top 12 All-Time Greatest Chins

The last line of defense for a boxer is the durability of his mandible. Here are the 12 best chins in boxing history, the men who faced the ...
On May 30, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Boxiana 0
May 25, 1980: Cooney vs Young

“I’m going to win this fight, going to win it big. I’ve trained hard for this and I’ve got it all together. I hear this Cooney kid is ...
On May 25, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Fight Reports 1
Fight Report: Stevenson vs Jack

The Event Stevenson vs Jack represented one of the best and most interesting match-ups to be made in the light heavyweight division for some time, not to mention ...
On May 20, 2018 / By Robert Portis
Features 0
The Weekend That Was

This edition of my semi-regular weekend recaps is late and is going to be a bit on the random side because your friendly scribe here tripped over a ...
On May 14, 2018 / By Robert Portis

The Fight City

Montreal is The Fight City. Known in years past as "Sin City" and "Babylon on the St. Lawrence", it saw more than its share of ring legends over the decades. A metropolis where hundreds of young warriors train and battle each day in its many gyms, it is where Archie Moore, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Bernard Hopkins all found greatness. It is a city of fights and fighters, of hockey and heroes, of broken dreams and immortal glory, a city unlike any other. Montreal is The Fight City.

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